A short list of things that are noticeably absent from Switzerland

Today is migraine day, apparently, but I still felt like I needed to get a blog out so here you go - a very random list of things that are difficult to find or nonexistent here.

Please note: this post is statement, not complaint... well, except for the parts about Twizzlers and burritos - that's complaint.


* Electric blankets (I did see a heated mattress pad once though)

* Small electric heating pads (the ladies know what I mean) ((nothing here but water bottles...))

* Crock Pots (I found one as a NEW ITEM at an upscale department store... for about 180$)

* Peppermint hard candies

* Cinnamon Candy

* Twizzlers or other non-gummy "red" flavored candy...

* Candy Canes

* Anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate

* Squirrels (I've been told they have some but that they only live in the woods... what kind of squirrel is that??)

* Frozen drinks (I'm sure some place here makes daiquiris and what-not, but we haven't found it)

* "Real" Mexican food... though we did see a place in Bern that we, ever the optimists, want to try

* Restaurants open late night/early morning

*Window screens (and yet we never get bugs indoors anyway, other than the occasional fly, which the kitties make short work of)

* American "cheese"

* Cheddar of various sharpness designations - there's only one kind of cheddar here - "cheddar" and it's white and pretty mild

Of all those things, I think the lack of squirrels and electric blankets surprises me the most.... well, and the lack of peanut butter-chocolate combination... how crazy is that??

Anatomy of a Night Out

Today we present another lesson in Swiss Life - the Irish Pub.

Saturday night our friends called around 9:30 and asked if we wanted to join them at the Irish Pub near our house for a drink. Taking a quick inventory of our wallets, we decided we had just enough for one round of drinks and a little bit of conversation.
You're probably glancing at the receipt to the right and realizing we may have misunderestimated our friends' beverage-consumption prowess. You would be correct.

Back to the topic at hand - how a night at a bar is different in Switzerland than a night at a bar in the US. We'll start with the prices. Corona - almost eight dollars each. Vodka and Coke (that's me!) just under nine dollars. Each. Kilkenny and Kronenbourg (two more beers) from 6.50 to 8.00 ... depending on what time they were ordered. Apparently drinks either get more or less expensive depending on the time of night - but I'm not sure which.

Annnnnd then there are the shots. Before our parents book flights to stage an intervention, I would like to add this was a tab for seven people,not just Mr K and I. The shots were tequila... and the first time they came out accompanied by a plate of lemon slices. Mr K and I LOL'd. Many people here are from the citrus is citrus school of thought and don't understand the importance of LIME in key situations. And speaking of limes, I think the 3 DASH 3 entry at the bottom of the bar is the charge for the limes/lemons to go with the shots. But maybe not. For all I know that was our foreigner surcharge or a tax on glassware or the cost of the table for three hours - I'm really just not sure.

What I do know is I had to provide my own aspirin the next day and this country really needs a Waffle House.

PS If you're thinking about what I said earlier about the state of our wallets and one round... well we have some really good friends. We love you, M and D and S!